Visa Issues? Why not!

So, quick recap:

After spending Christmas with my host family (which was awesome!), I had just returned to work at SASOL when I was told that I needed to meet with an immigration officer. Long story short, there were some mix-ups with my work permit, and I was told I needed to leave the country. That was on a Friday, and by Tuesday morning at 7a.m. I was on a plane leaving Nairobi, on my way to Kigali, Rwanda.

I arrived in Kigali to meet Shantelle, another SALTer, and I was blessed to join her at her host family's house for two weeks. In those two weeks I managed to meet the entire MCC Rwanda and Burundi team (as well as the team members in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo), go to a Rwandan baby-naming ceremony, and travel through Burundi.

The time was a delightful mix of spending time with friends, site seeing, and trying to get some of my work done for SASOL. Shantelle was such a blessing to be with! She showed me around Kigali, and let me tag along with her when she had other things to do. I was also very blessed to meet Teresa, a SALTer from last year who extended her term for a year. It was SO refreshing to watch the both of them at work, and hear about their experiences trying to make the most out of their time in Rwanda. (Thank you, ladies, for all that you did for me and all that you do for the MCC partners in Rwanda!!)

While I was there, an MCC Rwandan national staff worker named Richard had a traditional baby naming ceremony for his new born daughter. Traditionally, you are not allowed to call your newborn by name until the whole community gathers to guess what his/her name is. It is the baby's initiation into the society. At the ceremony, two of the baby's uncles performed a traditional Rwandan dance, which was AWESOME! They also got one of the white guys (Matt) in our group to dance, which pretty much made every African persons' ribs burst :)

Three days before I returned to Kenya I was able to hitch a ride with one of the MCC Reps, Scott, to go visit Lauren (another SALTer) in Burundi! It is surprising as you pass the border from Rwanda into Burundi how much more obvious the poverty is in Burundi. Lauren shared with me that 80% of the population of Burundi is illiterate... and that is just one problem they face!

While we were there, and Scott had a bunch of meetings to attend to, Lauren and I got to adventure around! We went to Bujumbura (the capital city) on Friday and Saturday, and the first thing we did was go to the beach of Lake Tanganyika. We sat for about 2 and half hours just being at peace listening to the waves.

We then did what all logical tourists do and went for ice cream! I tell you, somehow soft serve ice cream tastes MAGNIFICENT when you haven't had it in a very long time.

Me and Lauren

We wrapped up our time the next morning by making pancakes. We unknowingly bought corn flour instead of regular flour, so we technically made corn cakes, but if you cover them in jam or honey, they still taste pretty darn good.

Both Bujumbura and Kigali are such beautiful cities! I had many moments where I would stop and be in awe that I was in either place. It may not be the best experience being asked to leave a country, but when you get sent to wait it out in an equally amazing country, it isn't such an unfortunate occurrence after all :)

I am now back in Kitui, Kenya. Keep praying for my work permit to go through, it is currently still in the appeal process. Thank you for all the support and prayers through this time!

Teresa (left), me, Shantelle (right), and Chrissy (Shantelle's host nephew)